Small business owners who are looking for a cheap, simple solution for credit card processing, take notice: Mophie and Intuit have launched an all-in-one package that lets you accept payments and process credit cards on your iPhone 3G or 3GS.
Named the Complete Credit Card Solution, it consists of Mophie’s iPhone case with a credit card reader at the bottom, and Intuit’s GoPayment app, which takes care of the software side. It also integrates with Intuit’s QuickBooks software, which lets you track invoices and payments.
It works as follows: You, a small business owner, apply for a Intuit Merchant Account that will let you process credit cards in a matter of minutes. The customers swipe the card through the reader attached to your iPhone, and sign their names on the iPhone touch screen. Finally, you send the customer an e-mail or text receipt. Intuit claims that its software processes the credit card “within seconds,” after which the funds are deposited into the business’s bank account.
The price of the Complete Credit Card Solution is $179.95 at Apple Retail Stores and soon, claim Intuit and Mophie, on Apple.com. GoPayment, which includes the Intuit merchant account, costs $12.95 per month, with a 1.7 to 3.7% discount rate and $0.30 to $0.34 per transaction fee. One account can enable up to 50 users. Finally, there are no long-term contracts, cancellation, gateway or setup fees.
With this product, Mophie and Intuit took some of the flare out of Jack Dorsey’s credit card processing solution, Square, especially because Intuit already has an established user base. However, Square still offers a number of advantages over Mophie and Intuit’s solution: a free card reader, no monthly fee, lower transaction fees, and it’s compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
